U.S. prosecutors have announced their intention to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated on Tuesday that she has directed federal prosecutors to pursue the death penalty for what she described as a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination,” reports the BBC.
Thompson, 50, was fatally shot outside a New York hotel on December 4. Following a nationwide manhunt, police apprehended Mangione weeks later in Pennsylvania.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to charges and has yet to enter a plea for separate federal charges. He is currently being held in a New York prison awaiting trial.
Bondi described Thompson’s murder as “an act of political violence” and noted that it “may have posed a grave risk of death to additional persons nearby.”
Investigators allege that Mangione was motivated by frustration with US healthcare insurance companies.
He faces 11 state charges in New York, including first-degree murder and murder as a crime of terrorism. A conviction on all counts would result in a mandatory life sentence without parole.
Additionally, federal prosecutors have charged Mangione with using a firearm to commit murder and interstate stalking resulting in death, offences that qualify for the death penalty. Both state and federal cases will proceed simultaneously.
Thompson had served as UnitedHealthcare’s CEO since April 2021. His murder has sparked a national debate on the US healthcare system.
Mangione is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC), Brooklyn. The prosecutors have presented evidence linking him to the crime, including fingerprints found at the scene.
According to New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Mangione arrived in New York City on November 24 and stayed at a Manhattan hostel under a false identity for 10 days before executing the attack.
On December 4, a masked gunman shot Thompson in the back as he entered a hotel where UnitedHealthcare was hosting an investors’ meeting.
Authorities tracked Mangione to Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s. He was found in possession of a ghost gun, a fake ID, a passport, and a handwritten document allegedly outlining his motives.
Thompson’s killing fuelled widespread public discourse about the US healthcare system, which many Americans criticise for its high costs and perceived inequities.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, speaking on the case, told CBS’s Face the Nation that “it speaks to underlying tensions in this country, and unfortunately, we see these frustrations manifesting in acts of violence and domestic extremism.”
